Hi all, A friend of ours said that he had had great success getting his dog to walk to heel by doing walks with the lead behind his legs. For example, if you walk your dog on your left-hand side you have the lead pass behind you, rather than in front, and hold it in your right hand. The theory being that there is insufficient slack in the lead for the dog to do anything other than walk by your side (depending, I suppose, upon the length of your lead!). Anybody ever tried this? Was it successful?
Re: Walking with the lead behind your legs! I am currently doing this and and am having some success, depending on how energetic Harley is feeling!
Re: Walking with the lead behind your legs! The lead behind the legs technique may have some effect as it results in a series of minor 'lead checks' which occur every time the handler's leg strikes the lead. I suspect that a lot of dogs would simply become immune to this over time and learn to ignore it.
Re: Walking with the lead behind your legs! Mmmm, my OH insists on doing this as 20 years ago someone told him it was a good idea! He's 6'2", and Merla is quite short so all that happens is he ends up with barely enough lead, and it's often not loose.When she walks with me, the (slip) lead has to be loose (like, sitting on her shoulders loose) or I make her stop and sit. I'm not a fan, as you've gathered, and think it desensitises the dog to what's going on with the lead. I am, incidentally, implementing a tactful and gradual reeducation programme with the OH- don't even get me started on Alpha Dog theory ;D ;D
Re: Walking with the lead behind your legs! I agree with Lisa it sounds like it could be dangerous. Bye bye legs when the cat appears from nowhere.
Re: Walking with the lead behind your legs! It has worked for me on the days that Harley is not 'hyper', I do this for a few minutes and it has really helped to get her to calm down a bit and walk looser on her lead. If she is too energetic I don't do it as I can imagine her pulling me over.
Re: Walking with the lead behind your legs! I hadn't heard this one ( sounds risky ) but had been previously given the tip of taking the lead down from the collar between the dog's front legs then out behind the "armpit" of the side you walk on. It means if a dog is pulling then its head is pulled down and inhibits it pulling. Not sure how well it works but could help in a tight corner if you are a flat collar user.
Re: Walking with the lead behind your legs! Never heard of this. Although, I hold the lead behind my back walking down steps and stairs, and Charlie just gets into line behind me and trots along as good as gold. I was always surprised how he learned me holding the lead in the small of my back means "walk behind me". I've started doing it at "pulling flash points" and it always works. Odd. I must have been accidentally clear and consistent when teaching this! Although I think a narrow flight of steps helped - he had no choice as he couldn't get round me.
Re: Walking with the lead behind your legs! [quote author=Jen link=topic=5173.msg65141#msg65141 date=1396296285] I agree with Lisa it sounds like it could be dangerous. Bye bye legs when the cat appears from nowhere. [/quote] Yep, I am also a fan of remaining upright : Clare
Re: Walking with the lead behind your legs! Did this first couple of times I took Lola out and now her lead almost drags on the floor sometimes cause she walks right beside me but wouldn't do this with a big bulk of a dog for fear of a 'you've been framed' moment ;D
Re: Walking with the lead behind your legs! I'm inclined to agree with the view that the constant checks would be a kind of nagging and ignored after a while. Molly walks well on a loose lead, but we only achieved this after attending the local dog club (not professional trainers - volunteers). I'd tried the stop, turn-around etc. but Molly would grab the lead and fight me. A person with a puppy at the club had her dog walking nicely by making herself very interesting - looking down at her dog, talking to her & treating frequently. I copied her approach and it worked, at first only when in the hall at lessons, but gradually for short periods outside, building up to now when she consistently walks on a loose lead. Strangely she quite often grabs the lead when it first goes on and tries to fight but I tell her to sit, quick treat and then set off walking before she can think about it, and then she's fine. I was lucky enough to be able to drive to off-lead areas, so only needed to practise lead walking for short periods at first.
Re: Walking with the lead behind your legs! I can see it ending in disaster i would not fancy falling over in the street , Through trying different methods of restraint collars haltis and the turn around method not working as Jake quickly learned that the sooner he turned around the sooner he would get further . Basically we were giving him all the lead so he had the oppurtunity to lunge towards gate posts etc give them enough lead and they will hang themselves or cause injury . After months of muddling on we went to a Gundog trainer in North Yorkshire he had Jake walking to heel in less than a minute and the method he used with our Slip Lead was to place the lead high up on the neck close to the ears and only give Jake about 6 inches of lead . And in order to correct him and keep him close and focused just a gentle tug every so often on the lead along with plenty of praise when he was walking well , When their is not to much distraction Jake will now walk with a loose lead , We always start and finish our walk along with some training at intervals whilst out within a few days we have seen a vast improvement . If he gets to over excited at seeing another dog or cat and plays up to much at times then we use the figure of Eight , 2 hours with a professional trainer has made a vast difference if anything it was my wife and i who needed the training not Jake . Mike
